Varun gives fans first look into 'October' on V-Day

Mumbai, Feb 14 : Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan shared the first look of his upcoming film "October" on digital platforms especially for his fans on Valentine's Day. He says the movie has helped him grow creatively.

Varun launched a 33-second teaser of the movie on Wednesday.

This is the first time Varun has collaborated with Shoojit Sircar and is playing a very different character that he hopes is image-changing.

Varun told IANS: "Shooting this film is a life-changing experience for me as an actor and as an individual. At times, success makes us complacent and that was happening with me. Whether it is ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania' or ‘Judwaa 2', whatever I have done is commercially successful.

"So, as an actor I was earning money, popularity and success, but not growing creatively. There was stagnancy. Thankfully, Shoojitda came to my life at a right time because among all these commercial films, this is one film that has challenged me the most.

"As a director, what he expected me to do was difficult for me and that is when I started understanding the deeper side of acting and thought if I would be able to pull it off."

Sircar told IANS: "I think it is really brave of Varun to take up the challenge as an actor because once you are successful in a certain genre, you tend to continue on that. But for filmmakers like me, I need participation from actors like him to experiment because I always want to make an experimental film, in terms of subject and for its execution. I need brave actors."

Asked about what made him choose Varun, Shoojit said: "I have always changed images of actors whether it is Deepika (Deepika Padukone), Mr Bachchan (Amitabh Bachchan), John Abraham... So when it comes to Varun, we instantly connected and after our meeting, I had no doubt that I found the right cast of the film."

The film celebrates love, nature and the season autumn throughout the narration. According to Varun, shooting this film brought him close to nature, and that impacted his performance in a positive way.

"The shooting experience was very different because it brought me close to nature. The film has been shot in all the real locations that were written in the script. Therefore, we majorly shot outdoors. I rode a bike at midnight, in the wee hours in places like Dwarka in Delhi, just to get the shots right.

"When in Manali, we were shooting under the open sky... I felt nature and its beauty so closely. Yes, this film has impacted me and how," said Varun.

So, is it a love story or a longing for love?

"Well, we cannot unveil much more than what people can see in the teaser, but yes I can say that it is a love story where I am sharing my idea of love. Like the way I explored the bonding between father and daughter in ‘Piku', in this one, I am sharing my thought on love," Sircar said.

Produced by Ronnie Lahiri and Sheel Kumar, "October" also features Banita Sandhu. It will release on April 13.